Olympic hopeful opens archery shop in downtown Longmont

By Tony KindelspireLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
02/02/2013 09:00:00 PM MST

High Altitude Archery owner Tom Adjutant builds shelving for his new business at 360 Main St. last week. Adjutant has been an archer since he was 12 and has been an instructor for the past several years. (Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)
(
Matthew Jonas
)

LONGMONT -- The 2012 film "The Hunger Games" may have introduced a whole new generation to the age-old sport of archery, but for Tom Adjutant the love of the sport dates back more than two decades.

An archer since he was 12, the 38-year-old grew up in Alaska and moved to Longmont 15 years ago. He used to build his own longbows and sell them to hunters and marksmen, but gave that up a few years ago when he began seriously training for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

He didn't make the team that went to London -- although he says he'll try to make the 2016 team going to Rio de Janeiro -- but during his training, and in teaching lessons for the city and privately, it occurred to him that Longmont could use another indoor spot for archery instruction, especially given the sport's growth in popularity.

This week, Adjutant is opening High Altitude Archery at 360 Main St. in downtown Longmont.

"I've known for a long time that I wanted to have an environment that was dedicated to the education side of archery," Adjutant said last week, taking a break from building a shelf in his new location. "I considered doing a bigger space, and as it turns out this one was the right fit."

High Altitude Archery, with its entrance in the rear, has 10 shooting lanes. He said that for beginners, he often starts them out by having them stand directly in front of the target and shoot with their eyes closed.

"You learn at a highly accelerated rate with your eyes closed, because you can feel the shot -- you just don't see it," Adjutant said.

High Altitude will offer group and private lessons, he said. The walls will be mirrored and videotaping will be used so clients can review their technique. A balcony offers a place for parents to watch their kids shoot. The 20-foot-high tin ceiling gives the room an open feel.

Adjutant has been giving lessons for a few months at Archery In The Wild, an indoor range and pro shop just east of Longmont that is in its 11th year. While both places offer lessons, he feels that there's enough interest in archery in the region to support them both.

"The growth in the last two years has been crazy," Adjutant said. "The last year and a half, it's been growing exponentially."

Bows hang on the wall with the shooting range in the background at High Altitude Archery, 360 Main St. in Longmont, which is opening this week.
(Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)
(
Matthew Jonas
)

"The Hunger Games" was released in March 2012, and "Brave," a Disney Pixar film in which bows and arrows figured prominently, came out three months later.

Rene Kingsley, the recreation specialist with the city of Longmont, can testify firsthand to the growing popularity of archery.

"I think starting last spring we've had to add a couple of beginner classes to every session," Kingsley said.

In 2008, the rec center offered only youth beginner classes and there were 57 participants. By 2011, the rec center was offering beginner, intermediate and adult classes, with 82, 22 and 16 participants, respectively. Last year 112 people took beginner classes, 32 took intermediate and 30 took adult classes.

The youth beginner classes, offered to 10- to 17-year-olds, are the most popular, Kingsley said, and they are split fairly even between males and females.

Rec center classes are taught at the St. Vrain Archery Club's range near the new Longmont Police training facility at Colo. Highway 119 and Weld County Road 5.

The club has been around for 10 years and has 135 membership "entries," according to the president of the club, Stets Newcomb. One family, he said, counts as one entry, and it's definitely been the case that he's seeing more young people participating.

"'Hunger Games' came out last year, and there were a lot of mothers wanting to sign up their daughters," Newcomb said. "A lot of them ended up going into classes taught by (Adjutant), and a lot of them ended up being (club) members."

Adjutant said he's already booked a full load of classes for this month, and he'll be putting up schedules on his website so people can pick what they want. He will definitely have open shoot times when newcomers can drop in, rent some equipment and give the sport a try to see how they like it. And he said he's hoping his downtown location will lead to some people perhaps dropping by during their workday to shed some stress, much as they might do by taking a walk or hitting the gym.

"Archery is a lot like tai chi or golf or any of those solitary sports ... One thing I've learned over the years is archery not only draws your attention but it demands your attention," Adjutant said.

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